San Diego  Having completed his time in prison, Mahad Ahmed was released earlier this year and returned to San Diego County.

Based on his most recent conviction — a 2012 burglary — the 23-year-old documented gang member was considered a lower-level offender, who the law required to be supervised by county authorities instead of state parole.

Less than five months later, Ahmed is back behind bars, charged with murder. Authorities say he packed a fatal punch during an altercation in the Gaslamp Quarter, leaving a 25-year-old San Diego man dead.

According to county officials, he is one of nearly 40 former prison inmates under county supervision who had been classified as nonviolent, nonserious offenders but were arrested and charged later with murder or attempted murder.

That number represents a tiny fraction of the more than 6,200 additional men and women the Probation Department has been tasked to monitor since October 2011, when the state’s public safety realignment law went into effect.

But it indicates that this new population is at higher risk of breaking the rules of supervision, and in some cases, committing violent crimes.

“We always expected that the individuals that we would be supervising under realignment would have a higher level of criminal sophistication,” said Mack Jenkins, the county’s chief probation officer.

“Indeed, we have found that a number of individuals are, in fact, quite dangerous,” he said, adding that the department has been working with other law enforcement agencies to watch some offenders in the community more closely.

California’s public safety realignment law shifted responsibility for some offenders from the state to the counties. The cost-cutting move was also meant to help the state comply with a court order to reduce prison overcrowding.

Under realignment, offenders convicted of certain crimes, such as drug offenses, can be sentenced to years in county jail instead of prison. The law also created new supervisory categories: post-release community supervision for lower-level offenders coming out of prison, and mandatory supervision for those ordered to serve part of their sentences in jail and the rest in the community.

In San Diego County, both groups are monitored by probation authorities.

By the numbers

Realigned offenders supervised by the county Probation Department since Oct, 1, 2011:

6,229

Realigned offenders under probation supervision as of July 22:

451 on mandatory supervision

1,839 on post-release community supervision

2,290 total

Since October 2011, 37 people on post-release community supervision have been charged with murder or attempted murder, according to the District Attorney’s Office. One person on mandatory supervision has been charged with attempted murder.

Some have since been convicted of lesser charges, including manslaughter, said Lisa Rodriguez, a deputy district attorney who researches and monitors realignment.

Three defendants in those cases had completed their supervision terms before the new crimes occurred, Rodriguez said.

Another four were linked to cold cases that happened before the law went into effect.

So far, the District Attorney’s Office has not revealed the names of the 38 supervised offenders, but some of them have appeared in court for recent hearings.

Correction

The District Attorney's Office said Wednesday that a total of 38 people on community supervision have been charged with murder or attempted murder since October 2011, one fewer than previously reported. U-T San Diego regrets the error.

The office also released the names of those offenders Wednesday.

Ignacio Canela, 31, a documented gang member with a history of drug-related crimes, was ordered last month to stand trial on felony charges. He is accused of shooting San Diego police Officer Tim Bell during a pursuit in City Heights. The officer was hit four times, but survived.

Ahmed pleaded not guilty last week in San Diego Superior Court. He is accused of punching Michael Louis Beaver on June 15 during an altercation at 1 a.m. in the Gaslamp. Beaver suffered a brain bleed and died at a hospital.

Prosecutor Melissa Vasel said at the arraignment that Ahmed “sucker punched” Beaver in the side of the head, causing him to fall backward and hit his head on a metal railing. She said other people slapped Beaver during the altercation, which was caught on surveillance video, but Ahmed was responsible for the death.

Attempts to reach Ahmed’s attorney, who was appointed after the arraignment, were not successful Tuesday.

Scott Huizar, director of probation’s Post Release Offender Division, said Ahmed had regular appointments with his probation officer after he was released from prison in February. He said Ahmed was arrested in April for a “technical” supervision violation, and was ordered to serve 90 days in custody.

He was on a wait list for substance abuse treatment and mental health counseling when the Gaslamp incident occurred, Huizar said.

If convicted of second-degree murder, Ahmed could be sent to prison for 15 years to life.